Book Review: "Cassiel's Servant"
Jacqueline Carey's return to the erotically charged world of Terre D'Ange is a triumph of fantasy storytelling.
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Warning: Some spoilers follow.
When I first heard that Carey was going to return to the world of Terre D’Ange with a new novel told from the point of view of Joscelin Verreuil, I could not contain my excitement. It’s now been quite a long time since Carey has given us a glimpse into this magical, erotic world, and to this day I’ve never read an author who has her skill at combining courtly intrigue, sex, and epic fantasy in such exquisite balance. I first read Kushiel’s Dart and its sequels a year or two after I finished my BA, and I remain as entranced by them now as I was then. So, my expectations for Cassiel’s Servant were very high, indeed.
Reader, let me assure you that she does not disappoint.
We meet Joscelin on the eve of his departure to become a member of the Cassiline Brotherhood. As the middle son of a very proud, ancient, and traditional family, he knows that this is the future that awaits him, and while he does feel a pang of sadness at leaving his old life behind, it’s not long before he has been thoroughly interpolated into the rigors and regimen of this trained group of warriors. They mold him into the man that he will become, someone who is more than a little proud, someone who has his own sense of honor and dignity. Anyone who has read the original novels will see glimmers of the man that he’ll become while in the service of Delaunay and afterward.
I found these early chapters to be some of the most compelling, because these are actions and events that we have not yet read about from Phèdre’s perspective. As a result, we get a much more intimate glimpse into Joscelin’s inner life and the many challenges he faces as he has to not only learn the various fighting skills used by the Cassilines but also deal with his fellow initiates, including the irreverent Selwyn. It’s a nice spin on the education-of-an-adept storyline that is so common in fantasy, and Carey does an excellent job of showing how the wider events of the kingdom, even at this early stage, are starting to make themselves felt.
The novel really hits its stride once Joscelin is hired by Delaunay to look after his charges Phèdre and Alcuin. As in Kushiel’s Dart, at the start he woefully underestimates his charges, particularly Phèdre, whom he looks at as little more than an empty-headed sexual plaything for the most powerful members of the court. Only slowly does he come to realize that there is far more going on behind that scarlet-moted eye than he at first thought, and the seeds are sown for one of the greatest romances to have ever emerged from the fantasy genre.
The prose in Cassiel’s Servant is as elegant and beautiful as in the books written from Phèdre’s point of view, though it lacks some of the more lush descriptions for which she was famous. Likewise, the politics here are more simplified than they are in the original trilogy, but this is in keeping with Joscelin’s personality. He’s quite intelligent, of course, but he has neither the interest nor the training to engage in the arts of convertcy as his charge does. He is there to protect and serve and, as events prove, to fall in love. Even once he finds himself cast out from the Brotherhood due to breaking his vow of celibacy, he is still bound to Phèdre, which is why he is willing to follow her across the Straits on a perilous mission.
There’s so much pleasure to be had in watching Joscelin’s stubborn heart and stiff neck slowly bend under Phèdre’s remarkable (and irresistible) charm. Even though fans of the original series know the endpoint, there is still something profoundly moving and erotically charged when the two finally consummate their desire, first in a frozen cave in the frozen waste and then, later, when they have endured the climactic battle between the tribes of Skaldi and the D’Angelines. If you don’t cheer through tears at these moments, then I truly have to wonder what is wrong with you. It’s to Carey’s credit that she somehow makes this romance feel brand new, as fresh and exciting as it was when Kushiel’s Dart came out two decades ago.
In the original trilogy, the Cassiline Brotherhood was, as a rule, somewhat enigmatic, and the same was true of Joscelin. Because we as readers were sutured so seamlessly into Phèdre’s experience of the world and in particular of the tortuous and ornate political maneuverings of the D’Angeline court, it was hard to know much about them. Now, in addition to getting to see the inner workings of the Brotherhood and the way that they mold the young men under their charge, we also come to see the different ways in which their central tenet is followed. While the established theology suggests that Cassiel never gave into the pleasures of the flesh like the other Companions, Joscelin seems to follow another path, one that suggests that the “Perfect Companion’s” bond with Blessed Elua might have been more than simply platonic.
Just as in Kushiel’s Dart, there is something richly authentic about the emotions that Joscelin displays, whether it’s toward Selwyn or, somewhat later, toward Hyacinthe (the Tsingano with whom Phèdre shares a longstanding relationship) and Melisande Shahrizai (the duplicitous, cunning, yet irresistible noblewoman with whom Phèdre shares an even more strange relationship). In each case, he has to contend with what it means for his beloved to share a part of her heart and her body with someone that isn’t him. That’s no easy feat, particularly not for someone like Joscelin, who has forsaken his oath to be with her. This is precisely what gives the relationship between these two people its extraordinary power. In Cassiel’s Servant, we get a fascinating look at the other side of the bond.
Few authors have Carey’s ability to create such an organic and evocative romance but, by the end of Cassiel’s Servant, we’ve gained a renewed appreciation for the ancient and fundamental D’Angeline precept, “love as thou wilt.” Somehow, through torment and betrayal and apostasy, Phèdre and Joscelin find their perfect companion in the other. They are truly a couple for the ages, and I’m so glad to spend more time with them.